THERE'S MORE TO IRELAND, THAN THIS

Last updated : 31 January 2003 By Editor

Tim Twomey Sports Editor for Irish Radio Talk FM:

"In Britain during the summer World Cup incident Keane was thought to be the villain in Ireland. But it wasn't really like that. Actually in the Republic the split was more 50-50 initially than anything else"

"It wasn't long though before the swing went very much in Keane's favour. And it swung even more to him when the Irish lost their first two Euro 2004 qualifiers against Russia and Switzerland. Football fans are notoriously fickle and when their team is suffering then they'll forget about anything very quickly. I think the majority of fans are not bothered about what happened in the summer now."

"If Roy Keane can come back and help the team get to the European Championships then few people will worry any more about what went on in Japan."

"The independent Genesis report commissioned to look into Ireland's World Cup and the FAI's preparations were very damning. People suddenly turned round after that was published and realised that maybe Roy was right after all," says Twomey.

"Pro-Keane fans will say that he sacrificed himself and his own World Cup to make a point. That's not a universal view. There are the anti-Keane faction who say he let a personal conflict override everything else. But generally people want him back now. The majority are in favour of him, wiping the slate clean and pulling on the green shirt again."

"He should be playing for his country, the people and the fans and everyone wants to know his decision as quickly as possible and they want that decision to say Roy Keane will play for Ireland again."